There’s been rumors buzzing that a professional wrestler will turn to Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighting and now we know who. Former WWE professional wrestler, CM Punk joins UFC!
via ESPN:
CM Punk, birth name Phil Brooks, has never fought professional mixed martial arts.
“This is my new career, 100 percent,” CM Punk said in a statement. “I’m going to go full steam ahead, all systems go after today, and it’s going to be fun.”
UFC president Dana White said CM Punk intends to fight at middleweight (185 pounds), but said he’d be open to 170 pounds.
The UFC took to Twitter to announce that CM Punk is expected to make his Octagon debut in 2015.
“He wanted to fight here,” White told ESPN.com. “He wanted to give it a shot, so we gave him an opportunity. It’s not like Brock Lesnar. We’re not going to throw the kitchen sink at him. Lesnar had a wrestling background. [CM Punk] is going to fight a guy who is 1-0, 1-1, 2-1 — something like that.”
White did not have a firm 2015 date for CM Punk’s debut, saying it could take some time, perhaps six to seven months. The UFC head noted that Brooks has been training jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts for an extended period of time.
“He’s been coming to fights for a long time and after his WWE contract was up, he called me and said he wanted to give it a shot. I said, ‘All right. We’ll give you a shot.’ “
